Interpersonal Skills – Effective Communication
Ability to ask questions and listen is vital to good interpersonal skills. In fact, empathetic listening is the number one skill that helps build relationships.
Ten Tips for Good Interpersonal Skills
- Listen to the person first. Communication is a two-way process; getting your message across depends on understanding the other person.
- Be interested in people you will be communicating with. People are more attracted toward those who have interest in them, and therefore will pay more attention to what they say.
- Relax. The bad body language like hunched shoulders, fidgeting, the toe-tapping or the hair-twiddling all give the game away.
- Smile and use eye contact. It is the most positive signal you can give.
- Ask the questions. It is great way to show that you really interested.
- If the other person has different point of view, find out more about their view point. The more you understand reasons behind their thinking, the better you will be able to communicate.
- Be assertive but value people’s input as you value yours. Do not be pushy and do not be a pushover. Try for the right balance.
- When you speak, try to be enthusiastic in the appropriate context. Use voice and the body language to reflect it.
- Don’t immediately latch on to someone’s story … “oh yes it happened to me” and start telling your own story. Make sure that you ask questions about them first and then be careful while telling your story so as not to sound like a competition.
- Learn from the interactions. If you have a good conversation with someone, try to think why it all went well and remember key points for the next time. If it did not go well, again, try and analyze why it was ineffective and learn from it.
Don’t wish it was easier; work on making yourself better;
Don’t wish for less problems; work on acquiring better skills;
Don’t wish for less challenges; work on getting wiser.